INDIA Bloc on Thursday accused the union government of trying to create communal divide over a report that claimed there has been a decrease in the share of the Hindu population between 1950 and 2015. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and CPI General Secretary D Raja slammed Modi government for not conducting the census, and called the working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) as an attempt to get votes by creating a communal divide.

Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh used the report to target the Congress, and said there has been a decrease in the Hindu population due to its politics of appeasement. When RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was asked about the report he accused BJP of spreading hatred.

The census that was supposed to take place in 2020-21 has not been carried out till now. Yadav said the aim of the BJP government is trying to mislead the people of the country, and are spreading communal hatred. Yadav further pointed out that this is the only agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP government at the centre. He accused the Modi government of fooling people of the country for the past 10 years, and they want to do that again.

Raja questioned the timing of the report and asked why has the prime minister’s economic advisory council come out with this report at a time when the country is undergoing Lok Sabha elections?  He said PM Modi is already trying to polarise people in the name of Muslims and is talking about handing over keys of the Ram Temple to Muslims. He asked why is PM Modi taking up all these issues? Raja further added that this means there is an attempt to polarise people by bringing out such data and said the people should be cautious of such reports.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday was addressing an election rally in Telangana’s Bhongir where he claimed that if the BJP came to power in the state then it will increase the reservation of SC, ST, OBC and will end the Muslim reservation.

While appealing to the public to vote for BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Amit Shah said Congress wants to fight elections by telling lies. He pointed out that Congress has said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes then he will end reservation. Shah said PM Modi has been leading India unanimously for the last 10 years, but he did not finish reservation. But the Congress party has robbed the reservations of SC, ST, OBC by giving 4% reservation to Muslims.

He added further in 2019, the public of Telangana gave the BJP 4 seats. The Union Home Minister promised that the BJP will get more than 10 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. This double digit score in Telangana makes PM Modi cross 400 seats. He appealed to the people of Telangana to make BJP victorious in more than 10 seats. And they will end Muslim reservation in the state of Telangana and increase the reservation of SC, ST, and OBC’s.

Shah took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said in BJP’s election manifesto the party has given Modi guarantees and he does what he says. And the guarantees of Rahul baba does not even stay till sunset. The Union Home Minister slammed Rahul Gandhi for making promises and not fulfilling them. He said Rahul Gandhi promised to forgive the farmer loans but did not, he promised to give Rs 15000 to farmers but he did not fulfill his promise. Amit Shah further said Rahul Gandhi promised to give loans of Rs 5 lakh to students without guarantee but did not.

The Bengaluru Police have called BJP President JP Nadda and the party’s IT Cell chief Amit Malviya, in response to a objectionable post published by the party’s Karnataka branch. The Highgrounds Police Investigating Officer in Bengaluru sent a notice to the leaders on Wednesday.

In relation to the video, JP Nadda and Amit Malviya have been granted a week to appear before the Bengaluru Police.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara claimed the social media post amounted to assaulting specific laws against communal divisions when questioned about the police summons given to the BJP officials.

Once they (Nadda and Malviya) come and give a statement or justify their statement, we will see what needs to be taken, he said.

This comes a day after the Election Commission ordered the microblogging platform X to remove the tweet uploaded by the BJP’s Karnataka branch as soon as possible.

The letter by poll panel read that they are instructed to notify them that the post titled BJP4Karnataka violates the current legal framework. Regarding the situation, a FIR has already been filed. This further brings to your attention that on May 5, 2024, X was given a directive by the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, via the Cyber Crime Division in Bengaluru, to remove the offensive message. However, the post has not been removed yet, the statement added.

Earlier, a police complaint was filed against them and BJP Karnataka unit president BY Vijayendra for sharing a video on social media that appeared to show the Congress giving preference to Muslims in matters of reservation.

The Karnataka BJP released a video in which state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congressman Rahul Gandhi are shown giving Muslims more money than they are giving to SCs, STs, and OBCs.

Meanwhile, voting in Karnataka completed yesterday, in the fourth phase of polling. The results of the election will be announced on June 4.